SS ''Dominator'', a freighter, ran ashore on the

Palos Verdes Peninsula The Palos Verdes Peninsula (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the S ...

in the South Bay area of

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in 1961 due to a navigational error while lost in fog. Its remains can still be seen today, and serves as a point of interest for hikers and kayakers.

Ship history

The ship was originally the American

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...

''Melville Jacoby'', built during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

at the Walsh-Kaiser Company shipyard in

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts ...

, and launched on 31 March 1944. It was named after the journalist Melville Jacoby, who after reporting on the war in China, and narrowly escaping capture at Corregidor, was killed in an air crash in 1942. During the war the ship was operated by the

Wilmore Steamship Company Wilmore Steamship Company was a steamship shipping company that was founded in New York City in 1930. The Wilmore Steamship Company mainly operated coal ships, called Collier ship. The coal ships main routes were loading coal at Hampton Roads, ...

of Boston, on behalf of the

War Shipping Administration The War Shipping Administration (WSA) was a World War II emergency war agency of the US government, tasked to purchase and operate the civilian shipping tonnage the United States needed for fighting the war. Both shipbuilding under the Maritime C ...

. In 1947 she was sold into commercial service, and flying the Panamanian flag, was renamed SS ''Victoria''. She changed hands in 1950, and was renamed SS ''North Queen'', then again in 1953 and became SS ''Dominator''.

The wreck

On March 13, 1961, ''Dominator'' was en route to Los Angeles from

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

with a cargo of wheat and beef, when she ran aground off

Palos Verdes The Palos Verdes Peninsula (''Palos Verdes'', Spanish for "Green Sticks") is a landform and a geographic sub-region of the Los Angeles metropolitan area, within southwestern Los Angeles County in the U.S. state of California. Located in the S ...

, California. For two days, the Coast Guard and tugboats attempted to refloat her, but heavy seas and high winds only forced her higher onto the rocks. After two days the crew abandoned ship. The stranded ship was then auctioned, and hull and cargo were sold separately, which led to some conflict between the salvors, as they attempted to gain what they could. Eventually, the ship slowly broke up under the pounding of the waves, and large pieces of wreckage are still scattered over the shore.

References

External links

A Short Hike Featuring the Dominator

Images from a Hike to the Wreckage of SS Dominator

In-depth article, images, and videos of 1961 Dominator crash activity
{{DEFAULTSORT:Dominator 1944 ships Liberty ships maritime incidents in 1961 shipwrecks of the California coast